Itchō Picture Album (Itchō gafu 一蝶画譜) : [volume 1]

Hanabusa, Itchō, 1652-1724 · 1770 · Japan : [producer not identified] · 11 pictures

Itchō Picture Album is a Japanese woodblock-printed picture book of 1770, made by the painter Hanabusa Itchō (1652-1724) and issued in Japan for artists and readers wanting model sketches. Its pages show monochrome ink drawings of figures, animals and scenery, some paired with handwritten poem lines. A designer might take from them the economical brush line, open negative space and quick gestural contour that suggest movement with very few strokes.

Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art · No known copyright restrictions · More from this library